All children deserve a safe, loving, and supportive family.   Through the process of adoption a legal relationship is established between both the child or children to be adopted and the new adoptive parent and/or parents.  This relationship is life-long once established and affects the legal rights of the adopted child, the adopting parent, and the prior biological parent/parents.  Once an adoption is approved, the child adopted becomes the legal child of the adopting party, the same as if the child were born to that individual.  The child may thereafter inherit from the adopting party just as if he or she had been the naturally born child of the adopting person.  The child may not inherit from his or her prior biological parent whose legal rights/parental rights to the child have been terminated in the adoption.  

Although adoptions are fact specific and involve many different scenarios, common fact patterns involve situations and circumstances where a divorce has transpired and for one reason or another, the biological parent and/or parents have ceased to exercise visitation with the child/children and failed to pay support for the child or children's care and maintenance.   Other common and unfortunate scenario's involve  adoptions by grandparents, relatives, and/or a step-parent where the parent/parents of the children are not fit to care for the children, where there has been a death, or one biological parent simply abandons his/her parental responsibilities and obligations to the child/children.

To obtain an adoption, the rights of the other parent or parents must be terminated either by consent to the adoption or by a contested proceeding.  In a contested proceeding a statutory ground must be established by which the court may terminate the objecting parent's legal rights in the child.  To address the specific grounds for termination of the parent's parental rights in the child, including grounds such as the failure to pay child support or to exercise visitation with the child for a sufficient period of time, you should contact an attorney knowledgeable in handling adoptions.   

An adoption is a very noble and rewarding undertaking, but there are numerous requirements that must be satisfied if the adoption is to be granted.  There are differing rules and requirements depending upon whether the adoption is an interstate adoption or intra-state adoption.  Additionally, the specific acts that must be taken differ depending upon whether the person to adopt the child/children is a related person, or a non-related person.   A step-parent, under Tennessee law, is deemed a related person.  The importance of the distinction pertains predominately to the time that the adoption may take and the specific acts and requirements that the potential adoptive parents must satisfy.  

The attorneys of Batson, Nolan, Pearson, Miller & Joiner
are experienced and knowledgeable in handling adoptions.  We can answer your questions and advise you as to the specific laws and requirements while guiding you through the adoption.  Please contact any of our domestic attorneys at your convenience to discuss any questions and/or concern you may have regarding an adoption or any other legal issue.

JMMiller@batsonnolan.com